Wisconsin

Minnesota extended its win streak to three games with a 3-0 victory against Minnesota State at Mariucci Arena. Michael Shibrowski stopped all 25 shots he faced in his first start in 393 days and the Gophers received goals from three different scorers in the win.

"I gotta give them credit, there's a reason they're (number) one in the country," Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings said. "They're good offensively, good defensively. I thought we played better tonight (than Friday). I thought we gave them a game tonight, from the drop of the puck."

Elsewhere

Minnesota-Duluth rebounded from Friday's 4-2 loss to North Dakota to win 6-3 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

A UND team hindered by players missing with injuries and others slowed by the flu bug that ravaged the team this week, seemed to lack the energy tonight it showed Friday's victory.

"We didn't play a complete (of a game) as we needed to," UND coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought we needed to play a really intelligent, complete game. We were a little bit low on energy."

A few untimely penalties also hurt UND. Senior forward Derek Rodwell was whistled for interference as he was going off on a line change late in the first period and Duluth's burned UND with Austin Farley's power-play goal at 19:49 of the opening period for a 3-1 Bulldog lead.

"We didn't manage the last minute of the second period very well," Hakstol said. "That's the difference in the game, those three, three-and-a-half minutes."

North Dakota, down 3-2 in the second period after freshman defenseman Paul LaDue banged in his first college goal on a rebound, had a chance to draw even or go ahead with a 5-on-3 power play for one minute, 21 seconds six minutes after LaDue's goal.

Even though UND fired five shots at Duluth goalie Adam Crandall on the 5-on-3, none got into the net.

"We had some good opportunities," Hakstol said, "but at the end of the day, it's the results that count."

Senior goalie Clarke Saunders, the No. 1 star in Friday's win, was pulled after giving up three goals in the first period on 13 shots.

LaDue said he wouldn't use the illness and injuries to teammates as an excuse. "We had a chance to win this game — and we let it slip."

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Wisconsin had to wait 35 days to see Joel Rumpel return to action after an early-season leg injury. It turned out to be well worth the wait, as the junior was spectacular in his comeback, helping the Badgers secure a comeback road win over Miami and a weekend split.

After being shut down by RedHawks goaltender Ryan McKay on Friday, Wisconsin came into the contest with a simple plan to spur their offense: get more traffic in front of the Miami net.

The strategy worked; the Badgers netted three goals against a hot goalie who had only allowed two goals in the last 116 shots he faced coming into Saturday’s game.

"I thought we played fairly well and so did they," Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. "There were a couple plays we didn't defend very well and it was a one-goal game. ... It was a close game. It was going to come down to who was going to make a play or two, and obviously they did and we didn't.

"It's a tough weekend when every shift is crucial."

Miami has had a tough stretch of games, and now plays Nebraska-Omaha next week. Of course, this is what Miami signed up for in moving to the new NCHC.

"It doesn't get any easier," Blasi said. "Omaha is playing great, and these are league games now. Every point matters. We're going to have to be ready to go. I had a chance to watch them play (Friday) night, and they're legit right now."

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Ferris State earned a three-point weekend with a win against Bowling Green on Saturday, 4-2.

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A hat trick from junior Scott Allen helped Alaska-Anchorage come back from a 3-1 deficit to forge a 4-4 tie with Bemidhi State.

The Seawolves (5-4-1, 2-3-1 WCHA) got on the board with Allen’s first goal before the Beavers (4-6-2, 4-3-1 WCHA) posted three unanswered goals. Allen added his second and third goals of the night to make it 3-3 before senior Matt Bailey gave UAA the lead once more. BSU then retaliated less than three minutes later with the game-tying goal.

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Senior David Makowski scored the lone goal, and Sam Brittain recorded a 26-save shutout as Denver swept a weekend series with Western Michigan. The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last four.

Denver’s defense set the tone from the outset, limiting the Broncos to just five shot attempts over the opening 32 minutes. Denver also blocked 15 shots in the first two periods. For the game, the Pioneers finished 21 blocked shots.

Brittain and the Pioneers’ penalty unit helped fend off a flurry by the Broncos in the final period. Brittain turned away 15 Western Michigan shot attempts over the final 20 minutes as the team killed off three power plays.

“Tonight was our best game 5-on-5,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “Our forwards I thought played the best game. I thought we were led by Ty Loney, and it was great having Quentin Shore back and Gabe Levin [had a great game]. It was our best game of the year 5-on-5, but we have to address our stick penalties.”